Jugendstil

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

n. A style of architecture and decorative art similar to art nouveau, popular in German-speaking areas of Europe during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Etymologies

German : Jugend, youth + Stil, style.

(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

We recently covered the application of Jugendstil (sometimes also called Sezession) style motifs to church vestments, but the style's most permanent monuments lie in its architecture, in the work of men such as Otto Wagner and his colleagues and disciples, as well as his sometime collaborator, the decorative artist Koloman Moser.

I have long been fond of Jugendstil, the style associated with the architect Otto Wagner, and used in a handful of striking ecclesiastical architectural projects (such as the Kirche am Steinhof), but had never seen it applied to liturgical decorative arts, aside from a few altars and interior schemes.

While I by no means wish to draw attention away from the growing revival of classical and Gothic church architecture, a judicious renewal of some varieties of Jugendstil art and architecture in an ecclesiastical context would establish a foundation for the development of a practical, beautiful new style that is nonetheless anchored in organic tradition in a way that most "contemporary" styles are not.

Daniel Mitsui over at The Lion and the Cardinal posted some photos of some absolutely magnificent vestments from the monastery of Klosterneuburg made in the early twentieth century, done in the Jugendstil style (if that is not too much of a tautology), the German (and Austrian) counterpart to Art Nouveau.

For the past decade this Jugendstil masterpiece has been a battleground for the four sisters who inherited it, even as they seek to protect the coveted private property from the ravages of decay, pollution, theft and the prying eyes of the public.